January5, 2012

Washington D.C. – House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith made the following statement regarding the strategic review released by the Department of Defense:

“Today’s announcement marks the conclusion of an important strategic analysis of the threats our country faces today, as well as in the future and how we can best address those threats moving forward. It represents a synopsis of the global threat environment, and presents a broad strategy to address those threats.

“This review comes at an important time. Congress has been engaged in an ongoing debate about how best to meet the spending reductions stipulated in the bipartisan Budget Control Agreement without undermining our national security objectives. I have consistently said that we can rationally evaluate our national security strategy, our defense expenditures, and the current set of missions we ask the military to undertake and come up with a strategy that requires less funding and strengthens national security. I believe this review provides a framework to achieve that goal.

“Not only does the strategic review clearly articulate the threats we face, but it also shows that simply spending more money on defense does not necessarily makes us safer – spending more wisely and effectively does. Clearly, we do not have an endless amount of resources, and that should be taken into consideration, but it should not be the driving force behind our national security strategy. As demonstrated by the strategy laid out today, the Administration fully understands this fact.

“The Administration has put together a significant string of foreign policy successes, including the death of bin Laden, Anwar Al-Awlaki, the elimination of much of al Qaeda's leadership, the end of the war in Iraq, and supporting the uprising in Libya. Today's announcement lays out a strategy that will enable the United States to build on those successes and confront the threats of today as well as in the future, wherever they may emerge."